1) Charles Darwin's argument for natural selection can bepresented in a variety of ways. In class we discussed fourpostulates for natural selection (note: a reasonable statement orassumed truth used in developing mathematical or logicalreasoning). Identify and briefly describe the four postulates ofnatural selection.
2) In many animal societies there is a pattern of limiteddispersal where members of a group stay together and other membersof the group leave (disperse) and join up with different groups.What is likely the difference between the members of the group thatstay versus those that leave, and what are the fitness benefits ofthis arrangement (a complete response will indicate who benefitsand why)?
3) Explain what is meant by the principle of allocation, and howmight we expect this principle to constrain life histories. Give atleast one specific restriction on a life history trait that isresult of the principle of allocation.
4) When using the mark-recapture method to estimate a populationsize, we make a variety of assumptions. Describe at least twoassumptions that are violated in following example, and how thoseviolations are like to affect the estimate of population size. Alsoidentify at least one assumption that appears to have beensatisfied.
A population of butterflies inhabiting a fieldworker is sampled:captured individuals are marked by brushing a Sharpie pen acrossthe wing, but sometimes the wing is damaged as a result of thismarking technique. After the sample is marked, the butterflies arereleases and a researcher observes a few of the marked individualsflying away from the field and into a nearby wooded area. When thepopulation is resampled the next day, one of the collectors is seenspecifically targeting butterflies that had been previouslycaptured and marked.
